Here's Hoping
by Alzbeta Batoriova
Summary: Two people come together to think about the ones they miss dearly. Darry and Sandy centered. Slightly AU.


"Here's Hoping"

By: Seinasu

Disclaimer: _The Outsiders_ is copyright © S.E. Hinton.

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Author's Note (05/18/07): This is an updated version of my story with spelling and grammar check. At this moment I've picked up work on "What He Don't Know."

Author's Note (03/29/02): This is NOT a sequel to "What He Don't Know." This is just a little thing I wrote just before I had to leave for work. No real action, just two people getting together to talk about someone they care about. It's short and kinda corny. Comments, reviews, and so forth are greatly appreciated!

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The café door swung shut and Sandy looked up from her table. She smiled and waved at her brother-in-law and motioned him to his seat across from her. When Darrel Curtis arrived, he gave her a brief hug before taking a seat.

"I got us coffee and donuts," said Sandy as she folded the newspaper she was reading and placed it aside. The said donuts and coffee sat squarely at the middle of the table. "Is that okay? The coffee's still hot."

"That's perfect," Darry answered. He took a sip of his coffee and took a donut for himself. "So what's up, Sandy?"

The blonde sat back in her seat and played with a lock of soft blonde hair. She glanced at Darry with china blue eyes before she cast them aside. "It's Sodapop."

"I figured as much... How are you doing?"

"Darry, I can't stand it. I can't stand not being able to hear from him. It's been a month!"

Sandy lowered her voice and forced herself to sit upright but with her head bowed. She placed her hands in her lap as she said, "When he was drafted, I cried. I cried all night."

Darry scooted his chair until he sat next to his sister-in-law. He put a comforting arm around her and held her close. Sandy rested her head against his broad shoulder and sighed heavily, forcing herself not to cry.

"I know how you feel," Darry murmured as he remembered the day Soda was drafted into the US Army. He knew the draft was happening all over the country. Steve and Two-Bit ha been drafted as well and had gone off a few months before Soda. Darry couldn't go to Vietnam because he had to take care of Ponyboy and was recognized as his legal guardian. But when Soda showed his family his draft notice, their world fell apart. Sandy, who had just married Soda and moved in with them, was beside herself. She wept violently while Ponyboy bawled. Soda tried to keep his happy-go-lucky composure but there were tears in his eyes. Darry knew that he did not want to leave. Hell, HE didn't want his brother to leave. As much as Soda casually talked about enlisting a few times, he honestly didn't want to leave his loved ones behind. He especially didn't want to leave his brothers and bride behind. That night, Darry cried alone in his room.

"I'm always waiting at the mailbox for a letter from him," Sandy said as she rubbed the corner of her wet eyes. "You see me and Ponyboy just sitting there sometimes all afternoon... God Darry, I can't take this. It's too quiet around here. Sodapop, Steve, Two-Bit... Those were our boys!"

"And now they're gone," Darry sighed as he remembered the night his friends left. He lied in bed the night they left town and stared at the ceiling, unable to believe what happened. Steve and Two-Bit were not just friends to him—they were like brothers (even if Steve pissed him off from time to time). They all grew up together in their neighborhood and had gone through a lot of things in life. Their toughest ordeal was losing two of their dearest friends: Dally and Johnny. They helped pull each other back into the spirit of life despite their tragic loss. But now...

Sandy stared long and hard at her wedding ring. Darry watched her play with the band and carefully removed his arm from her shoulders. He took another sip of coffee and sat back in his seat. He didn't tell Ponyboy or Sandy about going to the post office everyday after work to see if there were any letters from Soda. It was like the time Ponyboy ran away from home with Johnny. Not knowing what was going on with his baby brother drove him mad. What scared him the most was how his other brother was off in another country fighting a war and he, his big brother and guardian, was unable to do anything about it. Sometimes he wished he had been drafted as well so at least he could be with Soda. And yet he couldn't leave his baby brother AND a pregnant sister-in-law alone...!

"I wonder what he's doing...?" Sandy mused as she took a small bite of a glazed donut. She chewed thoughtfully before she swallowed. She tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling fan. She noticed it was broken.

Darry knew what she was thinking. Was Soda in the battlefields right now with his platoon? Was he running and dodging bullets that were meant to kill him on the spot? Was he scouring the jungles, lost or wounded? Was he... dead?

_NO! He is alive. He IS alive, goddammit_, Darry thought. He told himself over and over again that Soda was fine. Soda was too smart to get himself killed. He could always find a way out of trouble. For god's sake... He was Sodapop! He was the carefree, mischievous, never-ending bundle of energy who would one day return home. He would throw his stuff aside, kick off his shoes, and pull Sandy into a loving embrace. He'd then tackle hug Darry and Ponyboy to the ground. Soda would tell them all about his experience as they would sit at the table eating a mountain of food. Steve and Two-Bit would swing by and join their little party. They would be a happy family again.

"Hey Darry?"

"Yeah?"

Sandy lowered her head once more and folded her arms across her chest. She quietly asked, "What should I name the baby?"

Darry took a bite of his food and wondered what WOULD they name the kid? What would Soda want it to be? He remembered his joyful brother rambling about different baby names: Paul, Michael, Rebecca, Sandra, Sodapop Jr., Johnny, and so forth. Ponyboy offered to take Soda to the library to check out a book of names but their plans were canceled when the draft notice came in the mail.

"Sodapop is a good name," Darry said finally as he saw Soda's face smiling at him in his imagination. "Definitely Sodapop."

"Great minds think alike," Sandy added with a hint of laughter. She placed a hand on the small bulge and smiled happily. "Don't worry, baby, because Daddy's coming home soon... I just know it."

"What should I cook for dinner tonight? Ponyboy's gonna have track and he'll be real hungry when he comes home, I reckon."

"How about chicken? We always like chicken." Sandy paused for a moment before she blurted out, "Green pancakes! I mean..." She blushed slightly before she asked, "We still have that green dye don't we?"

"Right where Soda left it," Darry laughed. "Chicken and green pancakes… Sounds good to me."

Sandy's eyes lit up for the first time in months. Darry was grateful to see his sister-in-law smile at long last. He reached over and placed a hand on top of hers, the one that bore her wedding band. "I think we're going to be okay," he said in a comforting tone. "We're going to think about Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit everyday. They're too tuff, you dig? They're coming back to us."

"You better believe it, Darry." Sandy clasped his large hand and squeezed it, beaming. "It's gonna be okay."

"Yeah. Here's hoping."

"Here's hoping."

The two sibling-in-laws raised their coffee cups in a toast.

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The End 


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